Using anticipation in your animations prepares the viewer for what is about to happen, allowing the brain to “catch up” to the action. When a person jumps they must bend their knees first. If a character is about to throw a punch, they must first pull back the arm that will be punching, like in the example below.

Anticipation can also be used in less physical ways. For instance, you can show an object before a character picks it up, or show someone looking off the screen before another character walks into the frame. This leads the viewer’s eye to the thing they should be paying attention to and lets them anticipate what will come next.